


The Shadow Prodigy

by AllAboutExceeds



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-02-19
Packaged: 2019-10-24 04:19:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17697533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllAboutExceeds/pseuds/AllAboutExceeds
Summary: Mattia is Rogue's adoptive daughter and like her father, she's a Shadow Dragon slayer. However, she cannot control her magic. But when a dark guild declares war on Sabertooth and Fairy Tail, can Mattia get her magic under control in order to save her guild and her friends?





	1. Master of Shadows, Unlikely

**Author's Note:**

> This is set some time after the grand magic games but before Fairy Tail's disbanding. I hope you enjoy reading it, I enjoyed writing it and any comments or tips would be greatly appreciated in the comments.

“Shadow Dragon ROAR!” I keep my attention fixed on the centre tree, where I’d painted a target. My roar heads straight; until the last minute when it deviates, destroying a different tree. I groan out in annoyance at my latest failed attempt to control my magic.

“So this is where you’ve been, Mattia. I see you’re still training hard.” I’d been too focussed on my attack to notice Rogue approaching. He’s wearing his usual black cloak with his black hair covering the right side of his face.

I sigh in frustration as I turn to greet the shadow dragon slayer. “Hi dad. It seems like no matter how hard I train I still can’t control my magic!” I vaguely wave around the clearing I’d made in the forest while I talk. One tree was still standing strong in the middle, the one I’d been aiming at with a target painted on it.

Rogue gives me a sympathetic smile, “I’m sure soon enough it’ll all click in place, then you’ll be stronger than anyone else in Sabertooth.” I shake my head at him; even if I did get control of my magic I’m still a long way from matching Dobengal so I’d definitely not be the strongest in Sabertooth. Rogue continues before I can complain, “we should probably head back into the guild, Yukino says the food’s ready.” I hadn’t noticed how late it had gotten; I nod and follow Rogue back to our guildhall.

Entering the guildhall we head to our normal group, “hey look, it’s the failed shadow dragon prodigy; she still can’t even control her own magic!”

I sigh; I didn’t even need to look at Rogue to know he would be glaring daggers at the young, spiky blonde boy. “Lux, that’s enough!” Sting is quick to scold the youngster before another fight breaks out.

Lux has his usual cheeky grin as he turns back to face the white dragon slayer, “aww don’t worry dad, Mattia knows I’m only joking around!” Even though we call them ‘dad’, Sting and Rogue aren’t actually our biological fathers – despite Lux looking like a younger version of Sting, and even I look like I’m related to Rogue with my black hair and red eyes. We’d grown up in the same village, after it was attacked by a dark guild Sting and Rogue saved us. It took a lot of begging but eventually Sting let us join Sabertooth despite neither of us knowing how to use magic. After even more begging I managed to convince Rogue to teach me shadow dragon slayer magic. Over time we became so close that we were more like father and daughter than guildmates; so now Rogue may as well be my dad – same for Sting and Lux!

We take a seat opposite Sting and Lux, who are still arguing, Yukino places a plate of food in front of both of us. Rogue immediately starts eating while I don’t even touch my food.  “Is something wrong with the food, Mattia?” Yukino sounds worried as she notices that I’m not eating.

I shake my head at no one in particular, “no, nothing’s wrong with it. I’m just not feeling very hungry.” Sting and Lux are too engrossed in their arguing – which has now dissolved into name calling – to notice we’d even been talking. Yukino looks as worried as she sounded, I don’t look at Rogue.

“You’ve been training a lot lately, at least try and eat some of it.” When I do reluctantly meet Rogue’s gaze he looks concerned. I sigh, I suddenly feel too tired to argue so start eating. We pretty much stay like that for the whole meal, Yukino, Rogue and I eating in silence – I must’ve been hungrier than I felt as I ate the whole plate – Sting and Lux arguing between bites.

When we’ve finished eating Yukino offers to clean up for all of us. Sting and Lux’s arguing has now dissolved into wrestling, leaving Rogue and I alone at the table. I quickly stand to take my leave, “I think I’m going to go shower, then I’ll turn in.” I’m not speaking to anyone in particular; Rogue gives me another concerned look but doesn’t say anything, he just nods.

I head back to the room I share with Rogue, Sting and Lux. Most people seem to think it’s weird that I stay in the same room as three guys, but Rogue is my dad, Sting and Rogue are so close they may as well be brothers so Sting is more of an uncle to me which makes Lux like my cousin. After my shower I curl up in my bed and pretty much fall straight to sleep, I don’t even notice the other dragon slayers turning in.

***

I wake up before any of my roommates, it was becoming a habit lately; Sting and Lux’s snoring didn’t exactly help me sleep! I quietly change into my usual outfit, a short, black dress and black cloak both with gold trims, similar to the cloak Rogue usually wears. I sneak out of the room; Sting and Lux wouldn’t wake up for anything short of the guildhall exploding but I still had to be careful to avoid waking Rogue. I make my way back to the clearing I’d been training in yesterday, it was my favoured training spot as it’s reclusive and the trees had magic in them making them grow back overnight.

“Shadow Dragon Wing Attack!” Another failed attempt as my attack slides either side of my intended target. I groan out in frustration. My training is cut short when a loud explosion suddenly occurs in the distance. “What was that? Wait, that’s where the guildhall is…” I stare in shock until realisation dawns on me, “…Dad! Uncle Sting! Lux!”

I start running towards the guildhall, the same direction the explosion had come from, hoping I’d made some horrible mistake and our guildhall hadn’t just exploded. “Mattia!” I hear Rogue call out my name. I come to a skidding halt, looking around frantically to find him. I spot him running through the trees towards me, Frosch close behind him, I dart towards him and practically throw myself into his arms. “Thank God you’re OK.” I can hear the worry in his voice.

“Dad!” I push myself far enough away from Rogue so I can see his face, “what happened? What was that explosion?” I can hear the panic and confusion in my own voice.

Rogue shakes his head slightly as he speaks, “the guildhall was attacked,” now it’s my turn to shake my head, hearing my worst guess come true, “there’s practically nothing left.”

I shake my head again, “how, who did this?” Realisation strikes again before Rogue can reply, “what about Uncle Sting and Lux and Lector, and all the others?”

Rogue puts a hand on my shoulder, silencing my ramblings. “Sting’s fine, Lux and Lector too, we’d all headed out to find you for breakfast when the attack happened. They’re back at what’s left of the guildhall, sorting through the rubble to find the injured.” He pauses as I sigh in relief, they’re OK. My attention is drawn back to Rogue as he continues talking. “Mattia, you know where the Fairy Tail guild is, right?”

I nod slightly, confused as to why Rogue would ask me about another guild, “yeah, it’s in Magnolia, right?”

Rogue nods as he continues, “go, as fast as you can, go to Fairy Tail.”

I shake my head at him, “but dad, I can’t just leave you!”

Rogue squeezes the hand he has on my shoulder, stopping me from arguing anymore. “I need to go back and help Sting, but we’re in no position to fight if they come back. That’s why we need Fairy Tail’s help. So you need to go there, now. Take Frosch with you and get Natsu’s help.”

I think of arguing more, but the stern look Rogue is giving me and him pushing me in the direction of Magnolia makes up my mind. I nod, turn on my heels and start running, Frosch follows flying behind me. I hear Rogue start running in the other direction so call back over my shoulder, “Dad! Take care of yourself!” Rogue nods back at me, the look in his eyes telling me what he’s thinking, ‘you too’.


	2. New Friends, Same Problems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mattia reaches Fairy Tail only to find them having the same kind of problems as Sabertooth! I hope you enjoy!

I was so panicked about the attack on the guildhall that I didn’t even think to rest on my way to Magnolia. I run through the centre of town and up the stairs to the guildhall with the famous Fairy Tail guildmark. I ignore the very drunk girl walking out of the building, and the three silver haired siblings talking outside. I burst through the doors and into the guildhall; the loud hubbub of the guild falls to silence as I come to a skidding halt in the middle of the guild. “Please! You have to help us!” I practically shout out through ragged breaths. The toll of running from Sabertooth to Fairy Tail finally catches up with me and I collapse in an unconscious heap on the floor.

I don’t know how long I’d been out for, but when I eventually come round I’m in some sort of infirmary. I see a young girl with long blue hair, about the same age as me; she appears to be using some sort of healing magic on me. Her face lights up as our gazes meet, “oh thank God, you’re awake!”

The blue-haired girl’s words draw the attention of the other people in the room. “You really had us worried there kid!” A boy with dark blue, spiky hair and a blue Fairy Tail guildmark on his chest smiles at me.

I look around as I start to remember why I came here, “Frosch?” I don’t see the little green cat in his frog costume anywhere.

A spiky, pink-haired boy speaks, “don’t worry, the little guy’s in the other room with Happy, Carla and Lily.” I don’t know who Happy, Carla or Lily are but I still smile at the pink-haired boy, at least Frosch is still safe. “You said you needed help before you collapsed, what happened?”

“Th-the guildhall, it was attacked. Dad said to come here, to run to Fairy Tail for help. He said to get Natsu’s help, where is he? Is he here?” My words start getting faster as the panic I’d been fighting up until now sets in. I feel tears start stinging in my eyes, threatening to fall, I swallow them back.

The pink-haired boy puts a reassuring hand on my shoulder; it reminds me of what Rogue would do when I get upset and the tears I’d been holding back flood out. “Wait, what did I do? Please stop crying!”

“Natsu you idiot, look what you’ve done!” The spiky, blue-haired boy starts shouting at the pink-haired boy who must be Natsu.

“It’s not like I meant to Gray!” Natsu and Gray’s arguing reminds me of Sting and Lux. Before either can get any further into their argument an explosion from the room next door catches all of our attention.

We all bolt for the door the explosion came from, but when we step through the room is pitch black. I hear confused noises from Natsu, Gray and the others I ran out with; although I can’t tell who’s who in the darkness. “Shadows huh? I can deal with this!” I feel a mischievous grin forming on my face as I start to understand what’s happening. I take a deep breath and with the breath all of the shadows which had been obscuring our view are drawn in towards me; eating my fill of shadows gives me all the energy I’d used up back. Even though I can’t control my attacking magic yet there are two parts of my shadow dragon slayer magic I have full control over, I can draw in and eat any shadows around me and I can merge into shadows and disappear from view.

As the shadows clear and we can all see again I hear a familiar voice call out to me, “Mattia, ribbit!” I turn to see Frosch running towards me and scoop the little exceed into my arms, relief washing over me that he was safe; Rogue would probably kill me himself if anything happened to Frosch!

“Hey, did that kid just eat the shadows! What the hell?” A scary-looking guy with long black hair and piercings all over his face starts shouting and striding towards me.

“I think we’ve got more pressing things to worry about Gajeel!” Gray steps between us; he has one hand in a fist on top of his other palm.

“Yeah, I’m all fired up now!” I see Natsu standing next to Gray with both fists clenched and a big grin on his face.

I turn my attention back towards our attackers; there are two of them, both are young-looking guys, probably not much older than Gray and Natsu. One is wearing all black with short, messy black hair; the other is wearing camo clothing and has long, green hair. They both turn tail and run when they realise a guildful of wizards are about to pick a fight with them. “Hey, get back here!” Gajeel, Natsu and Gray all shout out at the same time as they take off in chase.

I don’t know what possessed me to do it; but for some reason I put Frosch down and take to the shadows to give chase as well, even though I know full well that I can’t fight them even if I do catch up. I’m much faster than any of them moving in the shadows so I quickly catch up to our fleeing attackers. I pull ahead of them and emerge from the shadows in their path, just as they think they’ve lost the three pursuing wizards. “Was it you? Were you the ones who attacked Sabertooth?” Neither of the boys answer me; the green-haired one grins towards me and I see him readying some sort of attack as a murky green glow comes from his hands. I react out of instinct, “Shadow Dragon ROAR!” My attack flies towards the green-haired boy but at the last moment it deviates, taking the black-haired boy by surprise. “No, not that one!”

“Fire Dragon ROAR!” The flamethrower hits the green-haired boy as he releases his attack.

I take a step back as the attack flies towards me; suddenly, out of nowhere, Gray is stood between us. “Ice-make Shield!” An ice shield appears between Gray and the attack; after hitting the shield the green glow disperses. Gray turns back towards me, “are you OK kid?” I nod back at Gray.

Suddenly, Gajeel appears up in my face, “what the hell were you thinking? Why the hell didn’t you attack the guy who was attacking you?”

I bite my lip to stop myself crying in frustration, “I, I tried to…”

Before I can finish Gray starts dragging Gajeel back away from me, “back off Gajeel! Anyway, we should be thanking her. I doubt we’d have caught up to these guys if she hadn’t stopped them!”

“Well I don’t know about you, Ice Princess, but they wouldn’t have outrun me!” Natsu appears from behind Gajeel.

“What the hell did you just call me Flame Brain?! Anyway, you were just as far behind them as I was!” Gray and Natsu are now forehead to forehead as they argue.

“Now boys, what are you arguing about this time?” I nearly jump out of my skin when the female voice speaks from behind me. I turn around to see a red-haired girl in armour; immediately Gray and Natsu stop arguing. We fill in the new wizard (who turns out to be called Erza) about the attacks on Fairy Tail and Sabertooth. While we were talking the blue haired girl from the infirmary – Wendy – and a blonde girl – Lucy – arrive from the guildhall with the four exceeds, Frosch, Happy, Pantherlily (aka Lily) and Carla. “You guys should head to Sabertooth and see what you can do to help, I’ll bring these two back to the guildhall and tell Master Makarov what happened. Then I’ll bring reinforcements to Sabertooth.” And with that Erza grabs the two defeated wizards and leaves.

The others start to head towards Sabertooth, I hang back. If we get attacked again I’d only get in their way. It’s Wendy and Frosch who notice that I’m not following, “Is something wrong Mattia? Are you not coming with us?”

I look away from Wendy, “you’d be better off without me. You saw what happened when I tried to fight those guys, I can’t even control my own magic. I’d only get in your way.”

Wendy takes my hand, forcing me to look her in the eye, “you don’t have to worry about that Mattia! I’m not much of a fighter either, but I’m still going to do whatever I can to help!”

“Yeah, and we’ll all be here to keep you safe. You won’t be able to learn to control you’re magic if you run away from every challenge!” I look up to see Gray smiling at me, the others are all smiling at me too (although, I’m not sure if Gajeel’s is 100% a smile). “So come on, let’s go and save your guild!”

Filled with a new determination I nod back at the group, “right!” And then we all head towards Sabertooth.


	3. Reunions, The Fairy Tail Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mattia and the Fairy Tail wizards make it back to Sabertooth but their reunion is cut short by some familiar faces. I hope you enjoy!

As we’re running through the forest towards Sabertooth I hear a sudden shout, “White Dragon ROAR!” The attack isn’t aimed towards me but at Natsu and Gray who are leading the charge. I call out a warning but am too late and both get hit by the roar. “Hang on, Mattia? Is that you? And Frosch too?”

I turn towards the voice and am filled with relief as I see the blonde boy running towards me with a brown exceed in tow, “Lux! And Lector too! I’m so glad you guys are alright!” I run over to Lux and hug him; at the same time Frosch runs over to hug a more reluctant Lector.

“I was worried when Uncle Rogue came back without you. Dad wouldn’t tell me where you’d gone, just that you were fine and not to worry. Sorry I attacked you’re friends; I thought they were from the Dark Guild that attacked us!” When I finally release Lux from my hug he explains the mistake, during which I have to step between him, Natsu and Gray to stop them attacking him back.

“It’s OK; they’re not from a Dark Guild, they’re Fairy Tail wizards. Dad sent me to get help from them while he helped look for our guildmates.” I look around, only now noticing that there was no sign of Rogue or Sting. “Where is dad, and Uncle Sting, anyway? Are they not with you guys?”

Lux shakes his head at me, “more wizards from the Dark Guild came back. We all started chasing them but I guess we got split up along the way. Dad and Uncle Rogue are probably still chasing them.”

As if on cue we hear two voices in the distance, “White Dragon…” “Shadow Dragon…” “ROAR!” Lux and I exchange a knowing look before we head in the direction of the shouts, both recognising our dads’ combined attack. The Fairy Tail wizards have no choice but to follow us.

As we enter another clearing we see Rogue and Sting – both appear to be slightly out of breath – standing a short distance from two unconscious wizards. “Dad!” Both Lux and I call out at the same time, drawing the attention of the twin dragons.

“Lux, Mattia!” Rogue and Sting both call out to us at the same time as well. Lux runs over to Sting, at the same time I run into Rogue’s arms. After we’d all made sure the others were unharmed the twin dragons turn their attention towards the Fairy Tail wizards that had followed us. “Natsu, Gajeel, Wendy, Lucy and Gray too. Thank you for coming out here to help us; and thanks for looking out for Mattia too.” Sting greets the Fairy Tail wizards.

All of the Fairy Tail wizards have confused looks but it’s Natsu who eventually responds, “hang on, did they call you guys dad? How long has it been since we last heard from you if you’ve suddenly got kids now?!”

I can’t help but laugh at Natsu’s outburst, gaining a smile from Rogue. Sting just sighs and shrugs as he goes to explain, but Lux beats him too it. “Hang on, you’re only just getting that they’re our dads now? We’ve been calling them ‘Dad’ and ‘Uncle’ since we first met you!”

“Well we didn’t know who you were calling dad! And you could’ve been using Uncle the same way our whole guild calls our Master Gramps!” Gajeel shouts back. The anger in his voice and the way he’s glaring at us causes both Rogue and Sting to step protectively in front of us.

I shoot Rogue a questioning look when Gajeel mentions that they’re entire guild calls their master Gramps. Rogue just shrugs in response, apparently that’s just a thing and no one knows why. “Well, they’re not biologically our dads. But they saved our lives, allowed us to join their guild and taught us how to use their magic. They might as well be our dads; they’re the closest we’ve ever had!” Lux finishes explaining when he finally pushes past Sting.

It seems that Lucy is the voice of reason in this group as she steps forward and gets us back on track. “I’d like to know details just as much as you guys. But the middle of the forest while we’re under threat of attack from a Dark Guild is not the place or time for this. We should take these two back to your guildhall and see what we can get out of them.” Lucy aims the last part towards us.

“There isn’t anything left of our guildhall.” Rogue looks away as he replies and a sad silence falls over us for a moment as the meaning sinks in, our home has been destroyed. “The rest of the Sabertooth wizards are staying in the local inn, that’s probably the best place to take them.”

***

Back at the inn which the Sabertooth guild are using as a temporary guildhall, I’m sitting with Frosch while everyone else is busy working. Wendy and Lucy are helping Yukino give out emergency first aid to the wizards injured in the attack. Sting and Gajeel are in another room ‘interrogating’ the wizards we’d brought back, although the muffled shouts I could just about hear through the walls with my heightened hearing suggests they’re doing more than just asking questions. Lux, Natsu and Gray just came back in from the remains of our guildhall, having no luck picking up any leads on our attackers. “Everything OK, Mattia? You’ve been quiet since you got back from Magnolia.” Rogue takes a seat next to me with a slightly worried expression on his face.

I sigh and look away from him as I answer, “hi dad, guess I’m just getting tired of being useless.”

Rogue puts a hand on my shoulder; he doesn’t reply until I look up at him, “Mattia, you’re not useless. If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t have any of the Fairy Tail wizards here to help us.” Rogue’s reassuring smile and squeeze on my shoulder do little to calm my worries. I can’t help but feel useless. I don’t get the chance to reply before an explosion of shadows fills the inn.

I recognise the attack from Fairy Tail, breathing deeply I start to draw the shadows in towards me. As the room clears I see that Rogue is doing the exact same thing. “So, there’s two of them that eat shadows then. That’s annoying.” The black-haired boy from the attack on Fairy Tail is complaining; it seems as though he’s the shadow-user.

“No worries, we’ll just beat ‘em all up and take our guildmates back. It’s what they get for messing with the Venom Drench guild!” The green-haired boy from the same attack says to his black-haired friend; his hands glow a murky green as he readies his attack magic.

Suddenly, the green-haired boy is right in front of me, launching some sort of punching attack. Some sort of teleportation magic? No, it was almost too fast to see but he definitely jumped towards me. I sidestep at the last minute; his attack barely misses me, “Shadow Dragon Talon!” I react out of instinct, kicking out towards him; but the shadows around my foot dissipate before my attack lands so I literally just kick him.

Shoot, what do I do now? If I attack again God knows who I could end up hitting by accident! “Shadow Dragon Slash!” The attack cuts straight between us, forcing the green-haired boy to jump back away from me. The next thing I know Rogue is stood between us, protectively pushing me behind him. He glances back over his shoulder towards me, “you OK, Mattia?”

I don’t have the time – nor the words – to do anything more than just nod back at him. Before Rogue can fire off another attack Natsu decides to join the brawl. “Fire Dragon Iron Fist!” Natsu lands the punch on the black-haired boy knocking him into his green-haired friend. “Fire Dragon Wing Attack!” The combination of attacks sends both boys flying to opposite sides of the inn, unconscious. Unexpectedly, Natsu doesn’t go towards either of our attackers next; instead he turns towards me. “Hey, kid! I think I know what’s up with you!” The surprise at Natsu’s sudden exclamation leaves me unable to make more than incoherent ‘huhs’ back at the fire dragon slayer. He knows why I can’t control my magic? “You’re thinking too much!”

I give Natsu a dumbfounded look, next to me I can see Rogue’s face matching mine, “I … I think too much?”

Before Natsu can reply Lux breaks out in laughter from behind him, “man Natsu! That’s the worst advice I’ve ever heard! It’s not like everyone is too much of an airhead to think, that’s just you and maybe dad!”

The room erupts into laughter as Natsu and Lux start fighting, which eventually leads to Gray and Sting joining in the fight too. I stare at my hands, trying to figure out what Natsu had meant, “I think too much?” I’m muttering to myself; although it sounds pretty stupid it feels like there’s something more to it than just the insane thoughts of an idiot.

I feel a hand on my shoulder, jolting me back into reality. I look up to see Rogue smiling at me, we’re the only two in the room not laughing or involved in the fight. “I wouldn’t worry about it too much, Mattia. Natsu’s known for making less sense than Sting most of the time.”

I laugh and smile back up at Rogue, “that’s got to be saying something. I didn’t know it was possible to make less sense than Uncle Sting!” Rogue laughs back at me. We head over to the fighting wizards to attempt to drag the white dragon slayers away from the Fairy Tail wizards before they destroy the whole inn. With the two attackers restrained along with their guildmates the rest of the night is spent celebrating ‘the Fairy Tail way’ which mainly involves everybody getting drunk. Natsu’s words are still nagging in the back of my mind, but there’s nothing I can do about it right now anyway; and taking care of a drunk Sting and Lux means Rogue and I have our hands full for the majority of the night, right up until we drag them back to the room kicking and screaming when we decide they’ve drunk too much!


	4. Good Escorts, I  Don't Think So

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While escorting their captives to the Magic Counsel Mattia has a run in with more Venom Drench guildmembers. But can she figure out how to control her magic to save Rogue? I hope you enjoy and I'm sorry if the cut off seems a bit weird, originally this was a shorter chapter but seemed too short and the next was slightly long so it finishes further ahead than I'd first planned.

Whoever decided this was a good escort party seriously needs to review their definition of ‘good’! But, the word of the Magic Counsel is final. So, both Fairy Tail’s and Sabertooth’s guildmasters – Makarov and Sting – along with three members of each guild, Natsu, Gajeel and Wendy from Fairy Tail and Rogue, Lux and me from Sabertooth, are escorting our four dark guild prisoners, the green-haired boy Mamba and the black-haired boy Nox from the attack on Fairy Tail and a mousey, brown-haired girl Harena and a purple-haired boy Deus who attacked Sabertooth. Which means that there are seven dragon slayers and an old man escorting four dark guild wizards in one carriage; to make things even better Wendy’s Troia spell stopped working after me and Lux leaving four dragon slayers immobilized by motion sickness. Wendy continues to apologise while Makarov tries to reassure her and Lux can’t stop laughing, I daydream out of the window when a word reaches me, “ignite”; it’s nothing more than a whisper and glancing around the carriage nobody else even seems to have heard it.

Except, when my eyes meet Mamba’s green-eyes and the malicious grin on his face. This is enough to tell me not only had I not imagined it, but I’d heard something very bad. “We need to stop the carriage!” I practically shout towards Lux and Wendy next to me.

“What’s wrong Mattia? Has the Troia spell worn off already?” Wendy has a concerned and apologetic look as she replies. Lux and Makarov only look confused at me.

I shake my head at them; how to I explain that I heard a whisper on the wind and now I feel like we’re in danger without sounding mad? “I can’t explain why but we all need to get off this carriage. Right now!” Before anyone can argue or tell me how crazy I sound right now a fire bursts up through the middle of the carriage. With Natsu unable to deal with the fire in his motion sick state the carriage is quickly blown apart and the wizards sent flying in opposite directions.

“Well, at least that’s one of the shadow dragon slayers dealt with!” Shakily rising to my feet I turn towards the voice. I can’t believe the scene in front of my eyes; Mamba is wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, a short distance away his murky, green magic disperses from around Rogue. Rogue collapses to the ground, in agony, unable to move.

I see Mamba approaching Rogue’s defenceless form, with his magic ready to deliver the final blow. I move out of instinct, running towards the two wizards. “Dad!” For the first time I’m not thinking about my attack, not thinking about how to control it or what will happen if I can’t. There’s only one thought in my mind, I must protect him. I see flashes of the countless times he’s saved me, all of the times he’s cheered me up after a loss or re-assured me that I’m not useless even though I can’t control my magic. I can’t let some dark guild wizard kill him; but I’m too far away, I won’t reach him before Mamba does. I skid to a halt and take a deep breath, readying my attack with only one thought in my mind, I will save Rogue! “Shadow Dragon ROAR!” My attack stays true, hitting Mamba square in the chest. He’s sent flying backwards, away from Rogue; I did it! I kick back into gear, running towards Rogue’s defenceless form. As I reach Rogue I collapse on the floor next to him, “Dad!” Rogue’s breathing is shallow and I can barely feel his pulse, his face is twisted in pain.

“It’s not like it matters, he won’t survive the poison.” Mamba’s voice barely registers to me as I feel tears rolling down my cheeks.

“It’s OK, I can help him!” I hardly even notice Wendy kneeling on the other side of Rogue, her healing magic is just a green blur through my tears. I feel a hand on my shoulder and can smell that Sting, Lux, Natsu and Gajeel have all gathered behind me but don’t bother to look back at them.

The next thing I know there’s a hand on my cheek wiping my tears away. “There’s no need to cry Mattia. You saved me.” Rogue’s voice reaches me and through my tears I can see that he’s managed to sit up.

“Dad! You’re alright!” I throw myself into Rogue’s arms, I hear him wince but he still returns my hug. I wipe away my tears as I sit back. Looking at Rogue, he’s still breathing hard and is paler than normal but he’s sitting up and smiling at me.

Sting’s voice brings my attention back towards him. “We need to find the dark guild wizards that escaped.” He’s already making his way towards where Mamba vanished. “Lux and Mattia, you should stay with Rogue in case they come back.” We nod back at Sting; I have no intention of leaving Rogue’s side.

“I should stay too and finish healing Rogue.” Wendy offers, already starting to heal Rogue again.

Makarov nods towards her. “Good idea Wendy. I’ll go with Sting, Natsu and Gajeel should try and track the other two.”

“Right!” Both Natsu and Gajeel respond at the same time, running off in the opposite direction to Sting and Makarov. Leaving me, Lux, Wendy and Rogue alone.

***

With the help of Wendy’s healing magic Rogue is back on his feet in no time. Suddenly, we hear a shout from the direction Sting and Makarov had run off in, “That sounded like Uncle Sting.” I more say to myself than to the others.

Lux gives me a concerned look, “Why would dad be shouting like that?” Before any of us can answer we hear another, less familiar, shout.

Wendy gasps, “That was Gramps shouting!” It takes me a second to remember that the Fairy Tail wizards call their master Gramps and realise she means Makarov.

“We should go and see what’s happening.” Rogue is already heading towards the shouts before any of us can argue. We have no choice but to follow him.

We come to another clearing and can’t believe the scene in front of us. Mamba, Nox, Harena and Deus are stood at the other end of the clearing with a red-haired boy, a blue-haired girl and a brown-haired man; I don’t recognise any of them. “Dad!” Lux calls out as he notices Sting and Marakov being restrained by vines which appear to be stopping their attempts at magic.

“Gramps!” Wendy calls out towards Makarov at the same time as Lux.

“Who are you? And what have you done to Sting and Makarov?” I can hear the anger in Rogue’s voice and can see shadows curling dangerously at his feet.

The brown-haired man ignores Rogue’s questions completely. “It looks like the gang’s all here.” He says as he turns towards us.

“Gramps! Sting! What the hell’s going on here?!” Natsu’s voice draws my attention towards him, entering the clearing a short distance away from us; Gajeel is close behind him with a deadly look in his eye (it might just be him normal expression though).

The brown-haired man laughs evilly as he replies, “the guildmasters can’t compete in our little game so I had to restrain them with my magic draining vines.” What game? We’re not playing any games! “Don’t worry, as the Venom Drench guildmaster I won’t be a part of the game either. Now, if you win our little game then I’ll happily let your masters go and we’ll leave both of your guilds alone. But, if you lose then both Fairy Tail and Sabertooth will disband immediately!”

I hear gasps from the others; I grit my teeth, I still don’t get it, what is this game? And why would we disband our guilds for losing it? “What are you talking about? We’re not playing any game or disbanding our guilds so you’d better let Uncle Sting and Makarov go!” I step forward as I speak but Rogue’s arm appears in front of me, warning me not to go any further.

The brown-haired man grins maliciously towards me, “The terms are non-negotiable and participation is mandatory, little girl. The game is simple, you’ll be randomly paired off and all you have to do is defeat all of the Venom Drench wizards in combat to win.”


	5. The Game, Is Afoot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Venom Drench guildmaster's game begins and all of the wizards are paired off for their fights. But, can Mattia keep her magic under control and win her match? I hope you enjoy!

The brown-haired man raises both hands out in front of him and the ground under our feet starts shaking. “Woah!” I’m suddenly rising on a small pillar of Earth, the pillar I’m on collides with another to make a larger platform, “Wendy! Are you alright?”

The sky dragon slayer wobbles, unable to keep her balance on the moving platform. I reach out and grab her arm to stabilise both of us. “Mattia! Thank you! I guess we’ve been paired off together then.”

I nod back at her but before I can reply the platform crashes into another one again. Looking over we see Harena and the red-haired boy stood opposite us. “The brown-haired girl’s Harena, I’m sure dad said she used some sort of sand-based magic when she attacked Sabertooth. I don’t recognise the red-haired boy though.”

Next to me Wendy clenches her fists. “I guess these are our opponents then.”

I turn towards her in shock, “hang on Wendy. Are you seriously saying you’re going through with this ‘game’? It’s crazy!”

“We don’t have a choice!” Wendy shouts back at me. “I don’t like fighting but if we don’t beat them and win this game God knows what they’ll do to Gramps and Sting! I know you want to rescue them too!”

I sigh before I reply, “of course I do! But how am I supposed to beat anyone without control of my magic? I’ll only get in the way.” I say sadly.

Wendy stops my ramblings by shaking my shoulders. “I know you’re scared, I am too! But we have to do this. And, you can control your magic…” I shake my head at her but she continues before I can argue “…You controlled it to save Rogue from Mamba. Whatever was different then you need to do it again against these guys!”

I take a deep breath, Wendy’s right. I think back to protecting Rogue, trying to figure out what was different. Suddenly, Natsu’s words come back to me, ‘you’re thinking too much’ and it all makes sense. I stopped thinking about my attack when I protected Rogue, I let my magic do its job. I nod at Wendy, “you're right, I can do this.”

“It looks like the little girls are finally ready to fight, Harena.” Our attention is drawn back towards our opponents as the red-haired boy speaks.

“Looks like you’re right, Ardor. Time to get this party started!” Harena raises both hands in the air and sand starts to swirl around them, “Sand Veil!”

A sandstorm engulfs us both. I throw my arms in front of my face; the sand makes it difficult to see or breathe. “I’ve got this! Sky Dragon Wing Attack!”

Wendy’s wind magic disperses the sand; I cough as fresh air enters my lungs. I blink the sand out of my eyes to see Ardor running towards me. I sink into the shadows as he reaches me. “Ignite.” A fire engulfs the spot I’d previously been stood in.

I emerge from the shadows behind Ardor, “Shadow Dragon Talon!” The shadows surround my foot as I kick out towards Ardor. He flies towards Harena.

Suddenly Wendy is standing next to me, readying her magic “Sky Dragon…”

I follow suit, taking a deep breath “Shadow Dragon…”

“ROAR!” Our sky and shadow dragon roars combine into one attack, sending Harena and Ardor flying off of the podium.

Wendy and I jump into a celebratory hug. “We did it!” I still can’t believe that not only did I control my magic but I won a fight with it!

“We won!” Wendy cheers next to me, jumping for joy. “Now they’ll have to release Sting and Gramps!”

Our celebrations are cut short by our platform shaking and splitting in half. Not this again; I grab Wendy and push us onto our hands and knees to stop us falling. “What the hell? Not this again, I was just getting fired up!” Our attention is drawn towards Natsu as our platform collides into his smaller one.

“Don’t tell me we have to fight Natsu!?” Wendy exclaims in horror as she pushes herself onto her feet.

I shake my head. “I doubt it. The point of this game is to see who’s stronger, Venom Drench or Fairy Tail and Sabertooth. There’s no point in us fighting when we’re on the same side. More likely we’re a team of three now.”

“She’s smarter than she looks.” Our attention is drawn to the opposite side of the platform where Deus’ voice came from. Just in time to see the other platform combining with ours, leaving us on a platform with Deus, Mamba and the blue-haired girl.

“What happened to your partner Natsu?” Wendy asks; it only now dawns on me that Natsu should’ve been in a pair like us.

Natsu gives Wendy a blank look at first, like he doesn’t know what she’s talking about. I can literally see the light bulb above his head when the pieces click into place. “Oh, I was with that Lucky kid from Sabertooth…” Lucky? There isn’t anyone in Sabertooth called Lucky! Is he talking about Lux? “…but we were up against the shadow magic user and he got taken out pretty quickly. I knocked out that shadow magic user but the platform split before I could finish off that guy!” Natsu groans, pointing towards Deus.

I can deduce from what Natsu said that he and Lux were up against Deus and Nox. “If Lux was up against Nox then it’s not that surprising that he got taken out. Lux is a White Dragon Slayer – like Uncle Sting – so he’s at a disadvantage against shadow based magic.” I explain to Natsu and Wendy. “So, that leaves Gajeel and Dad to fight against Mamba and the blue-haired girl. And if they’re both here now, then they must’ve beaten Gajeel and Dad somehow. But how, both Gajeel and Dad are strong dragon slayers; it shouldn’t have been easy to beat them!” I start to feel panicked as I realise what must’ve happened in the other fight; something just doesn’t seem right.

“They must’ve pulled a dirty trick or something to beat those two! Otherwise, there’s no way they would’ve lost in a fight!” Wendy replies.

“Well, perhaps I can explain what happened.” Our attention is drawn back across the platform towards Mamba. “Seeing as we already know what magic all of you use – Natsu Dragneel the Fire Dragon Slayer, Wendy Marvel the Sky Dragon Slayer and Mattia Cheney the Shadow Dragon Prodigy – it’s only right that we tell you what type of magic we use. I’ll start us off, I’m Mamba – as you know – and I’m a Poison God Slayer!”

Natsu goes wide-eyed next to me, “He’s the God Slayer version of Cobra from the Oracion Seis!”

Wendy starts trembling on the other side of me, “Yeah, and the poison version of Chelia from Lamia Scale!”

I clench my fists but all I feel is the sweat on my palms as I’m filled with a sense of dread, “That means he’s on the same level as Orga.” I try to suppress the memory of the one time I’d agreed to spar with the Lightning God Slayer. I’d been in the infirmary for nearly a month and if it hadn’t of been for Rogue coming back from his mission early and bailing me out, then I may not have even been that lucky!

“You’re friends didn’t exactly last very long against Mamba’s poison, I didn’t even get to do anything! Hopefully you guys will be a bit more fun!” The blue-haired girl chimes cheerfully towards us; waving dismissively towards another platform. I glance towards the platform out of curiosity and immediately regret it. Rogue and Gajeel are lying on the platform; both of their faces are twisted in pain, just like when Mamba had attacked Rogue earlier.

“Wait! Let me heal them of the poison before we fight!” Wendy calls out as she runs towards the edge of the platform. I barely manage to grab her arm before a pillar of rock juts out in front of her, stopping her from getting any closer to our hurt friends.

“Defeat my wizards and you can do whatever you wish, Blue Mistral. Lose and there will be no point in healing them.” The Venom Drench guildmaster calls up to us from down on the ground.

“As I was saying…” The irritated voice of the blue-haired girl draws our attention back towards her; she’s clearly not impressed at having been interrupted. “I’m Mare, they call me the Queen of the Sea and I’m a Water-maker wizard!”

“Guess that just leaves me then,” Deus waits for Mare to finish her elaborate introduction, appearing bored at the entire exchange, “you probably know that my name’s Deus already and I use Beast Magic. So can we start this fight already?”

“You took the words right out of my mouth!” Natsu shouts back towards the three of them, fists ablaze. “I’ve got a fire in my belly!”


	6. What Would Rogue Do, Fight On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mattia, Natsu and Wendy face Mamba, Deus and Mare in a winner takes all match to determine who wins the Venom Drench guildmaster's game. But can Mattia win the toughest fight of life with the help of her new friends? Enjoy!

Before we get the chance to form any kind of strategy or plan for the fight Natsu surges straight ahead to start attacking, “Fire Dragon Iron Fist!” Natsu aims his punch towards Deus; instead of hitting Dues a strange golden light appears between the two boys and a large Rollidillo is formed from the light. Natsu’s attack lands on the beast instead (it quickly fades with another golden light) before Mamba forces him further away with his poison. “Fire Dragon ROAR!”

Natsu’s roar is aimed straight for Mamba. “Not so fast! Water-make Geyser!” Mare steps between Natsu and Mamba, neutralising his fire.

“Poison God BELLOW!” Mamba doesn’t direct his attack towards Natsu as I’d expected but instead aims for an oblivious Wendy.

“Wendy! Look out!” I call out towards her as I dart in front of her. “Shadow Dragon ROAR!” Our attacks collide, cancelling each other out. “We can’t leave Natsu to fight them on his own. We need to back him up if we’re going to stand a chance!” I call back towards Wendy as I dart forwards to join the fight.

“Right! Fast winds that run the heaven … Vernier!” I hear Wendy shouting behind me. I have no idea what she’s doing until a faint glow surrounds my body and I feel myself getting lighter. It must be a speed-boosting enchantment! Shadows start to converge around my arm as I rush towards Mamba. “Power of the stout arms that tears heaven … Arms!” The faint glow surrounds my body again as Wendy casts another enchantment; this one boosts my physical strength.

“Thanks Wendy!” I call back to her as I reach Mamba. “Shadow Dragon Slash!” I lash out towards Mamba with a slash of pure shadows.

“No you don’t! I summon, Vulcan!” I hear Deus’ voice and the golden light appears between me and Mamba. The massive Vulcan is hit by my shadow dragon slash before fading away again.

“Hey! Quit getting in the way!” Natsu shouts towards Deus as he lunges towards him, the faint glow which is fading from around him tells me he’s also been effected by Wendy’s enchantments. “Fire Dragon Sword Horn!” Natsu’s entire body becomes ablaze as he head butts Deus.

“Shadow Dragon Talon!” I kick out towards Mamba with my leg coated in shadows; only for it to be matched by Mamba’s God Slayer magic. A thought suddenly dawns on me, I’m fighting Mamba and Natsu’s fighting Deus with Wendy supporting us with enchantments but where’s Mare? I glance behind me just in time to see Mare closing in on Wendy. “Wendy! Look out!” I call back a warning to her.

Wendy spots Mare just in time to see her launching a water attack at her, “Vernier!” she enchants the speed boosting spell onto herself and easily dodges Mare’s attack. “Don’t worry about me Mattia; I can take care of myself! Focus on your own fight! Sky Dragon Wing Attack!” Wendy calls back towards me as she fends Mare of with her sky magic.

I turn back towards Mamba just in time to see his attack. “Poison God Dance!” I’m surrounded by Mamba’s poison in an attack very similar to my own Wing Attack. I instantly start to feel ill and weak, falling to my knees and gasping for air. “You should listen to the Sky Dragon and focus on our fight, not what they’re doing.”

I struggle back to my feet, it’s difficult to breathe and I can hardly even see straight because of the poison, but I can’t give up! He attacked Fairy Tail, attacked our guild, hurt Gajeel and he’s hurt Rogue twice. I raise my arms and glare towards Mamba in defiance, “Shadow Dragon Wing Attack!” My attack does little more than dispel the remaining poison and force Mamba further away from me. “You think that after you attacked my guild and hurt my friends you’re going to defeat me? Don’t make me laugh! I’m going to win this fight and avenge my guildmates, because I am a Sabertooth wizard and Sabertooth wizards never give up!” Mamba laughs at my outburst by I ignore him; I focus on my shadow magic as I ready my next spell.  “Shadow Drive!” The shadows swirl around me as my own enchantment takes effect, increasing my magic power.

Mamba smirks at me, “so, you’ve got your own power boosting enchantment. It’s surprising; but if you plan on beating me you’ll need a lot more than that!” Mamba launches towards me again, “Poison God Double Tusk!” He lashes both his arms towards me forming two large, fang-like blades of poison. I try to dodge but the poison coursing through me causes me to stumble and all I can do is dodge one fang, the other strikes me in my shoulder and I cry out in pain. “What happened to winning this fight and avenging your guildmates?!” Mamba laughs out towards me as he readies his next attack, “Poison God Shards!” Mamba sends a volley of sharp, scale-like poison shards towards me that slice my arms through my ineffective defences. I can do little more than cry out in pain again as I’m sent flying backwards.

I rise, shakily to my feet as I surround myself with shadows. I slip into the shadows before darting towards Mamba and wrapping my shadows around him, “Shadow Dragon Waxwing Flash!” It’s the strongest spell I know and before now I’d never been able to successfully pull it off, even uncontrolled. Mamba is sent flying backwards, crashing along the ground. He quickly returns to his feet, darting towards me again. I muster as many shadows as I can to try and keep him at bay, “Shadow Dragon ROAR!”

“Poison God Shell!” Mamba forms a defensive shield of poison around himself; my shadows disperse the moment they hit it. He makes up the space between us in no time. “Poison God Manasa!” What looks like hundreds of snakes made of Mamba’s poison appear out of thin air and constrict themselves around me, rendering me unable to move. Seven larger, cobra-like snakes bite into my flesh making me cry out in pain again as even more poison is injected into my bloodstream. “Poison God BELLOW!” I can’t avoid the torrent of poison magic while bound by the snakes; it hits me square on, releasing me from the snakes only to be sent flying backwards and forcing me out of my shadow drive.

“Ahh!” I hear Wendy scream out as I collide into something flying towards me. Next to me I see Wendy rise back to her feet. I attempt to do the same but only end up stumbling and falling back down to the ground. “Mattia, what happened? You look awful!” It’s like she suddenly remembers that I’d been fighting the Poison God Slayer as she gasps in realisation. “Mamba got you with his poison didn’t he? Here, I’ll cure you!”

Wendy’s soft, healing magic relieves the tightness in my chest and weakness in my limbs. I take a deep, shaky breath of fresh air as the poison finally leaves my system. “Thanks Wendy. I really needed that.” I smile up at the girl as I rise to my feet; she looks in a better state than me but not by much, she’s breathing hard and is covered in minor injuries. It looks like her fight with Mare is going about as well as mine with Mamba. “I dare say it won’t be long before I’m poisoned again though, with the way this fight is going.”

“I can help with that!” Wendy smiles brightly at me again, “Anomaly Resistance Enchant: Re-Raise! Now he can’t poison us again!” The soft glow of Wendy’s enchantment surrounds me again, protecting me from the effects of Mamba’s poison magic.

“Thanks Wendy! It’s a big help. He’s so strong though; I used shadow drive and the strongest spell I know but it still did nothing!” I clench my fists in frustration as I rack my brains, trying to find some way of winning this fight. I come up with squat; he’d just too strong, what can I even do?

“I know how you feel, Mattia. My attacks don’t seem to do anything to Mare either! But we can’t give up; Gramps and Sting are counting on us!” I glance towards her; her gaze is full of determination. Opposite us, Mare and Mamba have re-united during this little interlude in our fights. “At a time like this I think ‘what would Natsu do?’ and he would keep fighting until we’ve won! If they’re too strong to fight by ourselves then let’s team up and take them on two against two!”

I nod at Wendy, it worked against Harena and Ardor so why wouldn’t it work against Mamba and Mare? “Right! We can beat them if we work together. Dad wouldn’t give up at a time like this, so neither will I!” I reactivate my Shadow Drive as Mamba and Mare both launch towards us, trying to re-start the two separate fights again. “Shadow Dragon…”

“Sky Dragon…” We both ready our magic towards the approaching wizards. We have no intention of letting them split us up this time.

“ROAR!” Our roars combine into one attack; Mamba manages to avoid it just before it hits but the attack hits Mare, sending her flying backwards.

Mamba launches himself towards me, “Poison God Double Tusk!” The fang-like blades of poison are launched straight for me.

“Ile Vernier!” With my increased speed from Wendy’s enchantment I easily avoid both blades, somersaulting around to Mamba’s side.

“Shadow Dragon Talon!” I kick out towards Mamba as hard as I can, sending him flying towards Wendy.

“Sky Dragon Wing Attack!” Wendy’s attack sends Mamba flying backwards, into Mare who has finally made it back from our combined roar.

“Did we do it?” I ask as we watch the heap of wizards opposite us. Our hopes are quickly dashed as both wizards struggle back to their feet. “Of course we can’t catch a lucky break!” What do we do now? Even our combined attacks did little to them and I’m running dangerously low on Magic Power.

I try to summon more shadows to ready another spell; but it feels different this time, like there’s more power in my shadows. Wendy suddenly gasps from next to me, “Mattia, you can control your dragon force, like Sting and Rogue?”

My body is now surrounded by a shadowy aura and there are black, scale-like patterns covering me. Both Lux and I had dragon lacrimas implanted in our bodies as children – we were ill and the only thing with enough power to heal us was a lacrima, the dragon ones were the only ones around. Neither of us had ever managed to successfully enter dragon force before though. “So it seems.” I reply before darting into the shadows and approaching Mare and Mamba. I wrap my shadows around both wizards, “Shadow Dragon Waxwing Flash!” Thanks to my dragon force my attack is stronger than before and both wizards are sent flying into the air.

“Sky Dragon ROAR!” Wendy blasts both wizards with her sky magic as I retreat back away. Despite my increased strength and Wendy’s extra power, both of our opponents quickly recover from the attacks. “Seriously, is there no way to beat them?” Wendy seems exhausted and I feel as bad as she looks.

The next thing we know, our pink-haired friend comes crashing down in front of us. “Man, this guy is seriously pissing me off!” Natsu shouts out in frustration as Deus re-joins Mare and Mamba.

I literally jump out of my skin when Natsu appears, “Natsu, are you alright?” I try to cover how startled I was with the question.

Natsu glances up at me with an irritated look, “I’d be better if this guy stopped summoning all of his pets and just gave up already,” His look shifts to a more surprised one as he takes in my dragon force, “hey Mattia, since when have you been able to control dragon force?”

“Since about two minutes ago.” I reply nonchalantly; taking in the various cuts and bruises over Natsu’s body, “I take it your fight with Deus is going about as well as ours is.”

Natsu ‘tuts’ with a pout, “I can take him, he’s just annoying!”

“Well, maybe a three-way roar would work. They can’t take down all three of us if we work together, right!” Wendy chimes from next to me; our two-on-two fight didn’t really get us anywhere so I don’t see how a three-on-three fight will fare any better. I can think of little else though so nod at both of them.

“It’s worth a try.” Natsu says as he rises to his feet and we turn to face our opponents. “Fire Dragon…”

“Sky Dragon…”

“Shadow Dragon…”

“ROAR!” Our three-way roar launches out towards the three opposing wizards. Instead of attempting to avoid it as I’d expected, Deus steps in front of his comrades; he summons another Rollidillio to take the hit for them.

“That did nothing!” I cry out in exasperation. I’m all out of ideas, almost out magic power and feel like I’ve been hit by a train!

“Well then, let’s pull out the big guns!” Natsu grins towards us; I have no idea what on Earthland he’s talking about!

“Yeah, that could work!” Wendy chimes next to him; before I can ask what they’re plan is exactly both charge forwards. Wendy reaches both arms out to either side of her, summoning a circle of wind around herself and Mare, trapping both inside. “Dragon Slayer Secret Art!”

Natsu stands opposite Deus with both of his fists ablaze, “Dragon Slayer Secret Art!”

Right, Dragon Slayer Secret Arts, just another part of my magic I’ve never been able to use. But Natsu is dealing with Deus and Wendy is dealing with Mare, I have to find a way to deal with Mamba. I dart towards the poison God slayer and raise both of my arms out to my sides, covering them in shadows, acting on instinct alone, “Dragon Slayer Secret Art!”

We launch our secret arts at our opponents in unison. “Shattering Light: Sky Drill!” The circle of wind enclosing Wendy and Mare contracts inwards towards Mare, sending the other girl flying off of the podium.

“Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade!” Natsu swipes his arms in a circle towards Deus, creating a powerful torrent of flames that barrages Deus sending him flying off of the podium.

“Frozen Star: Black Hole!” I bring my shadow-covered arms together, creating a black hole-like ball of shadows which draws Mamba towards it. When my hands meet in front of me the shadows explode out of the ball sending Mamba flying off of the podium too. “We did it!” I gasp out as I fall to my knees in exhaustion.


	7. Master of Shadows, Possibly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the Venom Drench guildmaster's game now over the escort party has to figure out how to get all the dark guild wizards to the magic counsel. Some extra hands and a new carriage would be very helpful right now! Enjoy the final chapter!

“No! This can’t be right!” I hear the Venom Drench guildmaster shouting out in disbelief as the podium shrinks back down to the ground. The moment we reach the ground Wendy rushes to Rogue and Gajeel’s aid to start healing them of the poison. Natsu rushes towards where the Venom Drench guildmaster had Sting and Makarov trapped.

I push myself to my feet and run towards Lux; it appears that during the fight he’d managed to shift himself into a sitting position although he still looks battered and bruised. “Lux! Are you alright?”

Lux grins up at me as I approach, “not as bad as you look. I got knocked out by that shadow user pretty quick so I’m mostly just bruised. But damn Mattia, that was one impressive fight! Where the hell have you been hiding that secret art?”

I laugh back at him as I help him to his feet, “yeah, I surprised myself with that one! Who knew I was so good at improvising, hey?”

We hobble our way towards Natsu, Sting and Makarov while chatting about the fights. By the time we reach the group Wendy had finished curing Rogue and Gajeel of their poison and the three of them had also joined the group. “Well, it looks like we’ve got a few more captives to take to the magic counsel.” Sting says as he looks around at the various, unconscious, dark guild wizards lying around the clearing.

“Yeah, but how exactly are we getting them there Uncle Sting? The carriage was destroyed.” I take in the sorry state of our group as I reply. Lux and I are supporting each other while leaning on the other one. Sting is leaning heavily on Rogue who, in turn, is leaning on Gajeel, at the same time Rogue is also trying to support Gajeel in a similar way to me and Lux. Wendy is helping keep Makarov on his feet while Natsu is keeping the Venom Drench guildmaster subdued. “We’d be lucky to get ourselves there in this state.” It seems like the entire group sighs as we realise just what a mammoth task we’ve got on our hands.

“Well, maybe we can help!” We all turn to look towards the voice in the sky and see Happy flying down towards us, followed by Carla, Lily, Frosch and Lector. “It looks like you guys had one hell of a fight here!” Happy floats down next to Natsu, gaining a grin from the fire dragon slayer.

“Well we shouldn’t be surprised with this group.” Carla sighs, shaking her head at the rest of the group while she helps Wendy to support Makarov.

“You could’ve at least tried to leave yourselves in a slightly better state though!” Lily – now in his larger, battle form – takes Gajeel from Rogue, gaining a thankful smile from Rogue and complaining from Gajeel.

“We’re just glad to see you’re all safe and OK, though!” Lector floats down in front of Sting with Frosch following behind him to check on Rogue.

“Fro thinks so too!” Frosch chimes as he and Lector turn to check on me and Lux.

“How on Earthland did you guys find us, though?” I ask Lector while shifting Lux slightly so it’s easier to support him.

“We followed your route when the Magic Counsel said you hadn’t arrived yet.” I nearly jump out of my skin as I whirl around to see who’d spoken. Completely forgetting I was supporting Lux I nearly drop him; luckily Lector is quick to react and helps keep him upright. Gray approaches from the direction we’d entered in; he’s followed by Lucy, Erza and Yukino. “We found the remains of your carriage, then saw explosions and a giant pillar of Earth falling to the ground and figured it had to be Natsu destroying stuff again.”

“Hey, it wasn’t just me, Gray!” Natsu shouts back while holding up the, now unconscious, Venom Drench guildmaster.

“I’m so very sorry.” Wendy apologises, gaining surprised looks from the approaching group.

“It’s not like we had another choice!” I shrug towards the group as their looks get even more surprised.

“I’d expect it from Natsu but Wendy and Mattia too?” Lucy says in disbelief as she tries to balance Mare and Harena.

“It’s not exactly like you to get into fights!” Yukino adds as she takes Harena from Lucy.

“I’d like to know more too, but we should probably get these to the Magic Counsel and get your wounds treated first.” Erza manages to lift both Deus and Ardor with one arm.

“Yeah, our carriage isn’t far and we can drop you guys back at Sabertooth before we take these guys to the Magic Counsel.” Gray adds while picking up Mamba and Nox.

“Actually, the Magic Counsel headquarters is closer than Sabertooth so it’d probably be better for all of us to go there.” I reply as our group begins to follow the new group.

Lux nods from where he’s leaning on me, “yeah. The Magic Counsel healers can help us. It’s probably not a good time to add casualties to Sabertooth.” He adds.

We manage to hobble our way to the larger carriage, load up and restrain the dark guild wizards and get the whole group into the carriage. The moment it starts moving all of the dragon slayers – except Wendy – immediately become sick. “Urgh, I swear I never had motion sickness this bad before!” I mumble as I double over; it feels like my stomach has turned inside out and there’s a lump in the back of my throat.

“It just shows how much stronger you’ve gotten.” Rogue replies from opposite me, his voice is weak from his own motion sickness.

“Yeah, makes you a full-fledged dragon slayer now!” Sting groans from next to Rogue while Lux, next to me, murmurs in agreement.

“Welcome to the club, newbie!” Gajeel, on the other side of Rogue strains out while Natsu, on the other side of me, nearly falls onto me.

“I’m so sorry. I don’t have enough magic power left to cast Troia!” Wendy apologises from the other side of Lux.

“Don’t sweat it Wendy, they’ll just have to deal with it until we get to the Magic Counsel headquarters.” Gray, opposite her, adds with a bored and slightly disapproving look. All of the other dragon slayers in the carriage glare at the ice wizard – albeit weakly – gaining a laugh from the other wizards.

It’s not long before all of the motion sick dragon slayers fall asleep; I drift in and out of sleep, hearing bits and pieces from Wendy and Makarov telling the others what happened in the clearing. As if on cue, the carriage comes to a halt and all of the dragon slayers wake up. The carriage is quickly surrounded by magic counsel officers. Makarov and Sting – who were only really suffering from having their magic power drained, so had pretty much recovered during the journey here – were being questioned along with Gray, Lucy, Erza and Yukino. The dark guild wizards were quickly escorted away. The rest of the dragon slayers were quickly ushered away from the carriage and into a plain-looking room lined with beds. I freeze as soon as I realise where we are – a hospital. It’s not that I have a phobia of hospitals as such; more that they hold bad memories for me. Most of my hospital experiences come from just after our village was attacked where I was surrounded by the childhood friends I lost. So, I have developed a disliking for hospitals, making me freeze. Despite the worried looks from my friends and the frantic ushering from a variety of nurses I don’t move until Rogue places a reassuring hand on my shoulder and literally pushes me to the nearest bed. Only Rogue and Lux know about my dislike for hospitals and even now that I’m on the bed I’m still uneasy; but it doesn’t take long for fatigue to set in and I fall into a deep sleep.

I don’t know how long I was asleep for but when I wake up the room seems way too bright as I struggle to remember what had happened. I’m pretty much covered in bandages from head to toe and I ache all over, the aching reminds me of the fight with the Venom Drench guild and that I was brought to the Magic Counsel hospital. “Hey, someone’s finally awake!” I look over to my left to see Lux in the bed next to mine; his head and upper body are also covered in bandages.

I smile back at Lux but before I can reply I hear Wendy’s voice from across the room. “How long have we been out?” She’s in the bed opposite me, rubbing the sleep from her eyes; her arms are bandaged but other than that I can’t see any major injuries. There’s a drip leading into her arm for replenishing magic power.

In the bed opposite Lux, Natsu is sitting looking around bored; he’s got bandages around his torso but otherwise looks fine. Gajeel, in the bed on other side of Wendy, is the one to answer her. “You girls were pretty much out the moment we got here; maybe an hour or two. The nurses said you were both so low on magic power they were surprised you lasted this long.” I only now notice a magic power drip in my right arm; as I glance towards it I see Rogue in the bed on my right, he’s got cuts and scrapes over his upper body but otherwise just looks tired.

“Well you and Uncle Rogue weren’t much better, Gajeel!” My attention is drawn back towards Lux with a worried look that Gajeel and Rogue may have been hurt. Lux gives me a reassuring grin before he continues, “they were both out cold maybe half an hour after we got here. Apparently Mamba’s poison took a big toll on their systems, even after Wendy healed them.”

I glance around the room again, seeing only the six of us, “What about Uncle Sting and the others? Did they not need treating?”

Rogue shakes his head at me, “Most of their magic power was restored on the journey here. They’re having a meeting with the Magic Counsel to discuss what happens next.”

As if on cue Gray, Lucy, Erza and Yukino enter the room with the exceeds. “You’re all awake, I’m so glad. You had us all worried!” Yukino beams around the room as she takes a seat between me and Rogue. Frosch jumps up onto my bed for a hug before jumping across to Rogue’s bed; Lector joins Lux on his bed.

“You had nothing to worry about, we’re all dragon slayers after all!” Natsu beams towards the group.

“You’re a knucklehead but you’re not immortal, Natsu.” Lucy takes a seat next to Nastu’s bed as she worriedly checks his injuries while Happy flies down next to him.

“What did the Magic Counsel have to say?” Wendy looks questioningly towards Erza as she takes a seat next to her bed with Carla on her lap. Gray takes a seat next to Gajeel with Lily standing on the end of his bed.

“Both Fairy Tail and Sabertooth are in the clear; the counsel deemed Venom Drench to be at fault for the whole fight. With their guildmaster now in custody the Venom Drench guild will be disbanded, we shouldn’t have any more trouble from them.” She replies with a smile.

“What about Uncle Sting and Makarov? Are they not coming back with you?” I ask as I realise our guildmasters hadn’t come in with the other wizards.

“Nah, they’re both fine but they have to file a written report to the counsel about what happened.” Gray replies from opposite us.

“Oh, I bet Dad’s loving that!” Lux can’t hold back the laugh at the thought, causing both me and Rogue to laugh as well. Paperwork is not Sting’s strong point!

***

“White Dragon Iron Fist!” Lux charges towards me with his fist coated in a bright, white light. I slink into the shadows just before his punch lands.

I wrap my shadows – currently powered up by my Shadow Drive – around Lux, “Shadow Dragon Waxwing Flash!” I launch Lux into the air as I re-emerge from the shadows.

“Sky Dragon Wing Attack!” I manage to dart out of the way just before Natsu – sent flying by Wendy’s sky magic – collides into me, causing him to crash into his own partner, Lux, instead.

“A little warning would’ve been nice, Wendy!” I call back to my partner as I join her.

“Oops, sorry!” She grins innocently at me, “You ready to do this?” I nod back at her, “Sky Dragon…”

“Shadow Dragon…” Opposite us, Natsu and Lux have both returned to their feet.

“ROAR!” Our combined attack flies towards Natsu and Lux. Both are too busy arguing about whose fault the collision was to notice our attack until it’s too late.

“OK, I give! You win!” Lux shouts out from underneath Natsu, raising his arms in defeat as the fire mage rises off of him. “When the hell did you girls get so strong anyway?”

I glance at Wendy and can’t help the giggle at the giant grin on her face. “I think your lack of teamwork and mid-fight arguments probably helped!” I reply as I offer a hand out towards Lux while Wendy heals Natsu a bit.

“Well, your guildhall’s just about rebuilt, aside from a few minor parts but you guys should be able to handle that. It’s probably time we headed back to Magnolia.” All four of us turn towards Gray’s voice. He’s walking towards us while speaking to Sting, Rogue and Yukino; Erza, Lucy, Gajeel and Makarov are also with him along with the exceeds.

“Yeah, we can actually start taking job requests again! Thanks for all your help; it was good to see you all again.” Sting replies with his usual bright smile as our group joins them by the carriage.

I suddenly start to feel sad as I realise that my new friends will all be leaving. “Don’t be strangers, you guys are always welcome at Fairy Tail.” Erza replies as she helps Makarov follow Gray into the carriage.

“Same goes for you guys; feel free to drop by if you’re in the area.” Yukino replies as she says her goodbyes to Lucy. Meanwhile Rogue and Gajeel say their goodbyes while Sting and Lux see Natsu off.

I feel a hand on my shoulder; I turn to see Wendy, grinning brightly at me again. “It was nice to meet you Mattia. I’m glad we got to become friends.” Despite her warm smile I can hear the same sadness in her voice as I’m feeling.

I pull her into a tight hug, “I’m glad we’re friends too Wendy. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t been here, thank you.” I release her from the hug and walk the short distance to the carriage with her, “stay safe Wendy, and make sure you come back and visit soon!” I wave up to her as she gets into the carriage.

She smiles brightly and returns my wave, “you too Mattia. I’ll see you soon!” And with that, the carriage door closes and the carriage starts to leave.

I can’t help my shoulders sagging as I watch the carriage leave. I nearly jump out of my skin when a hand appears on my shoulder. I look up to see Rogue smiling down at me, “we’ll see them again soon enough. They’re always at the centre of whatever trouble is going on. Come on, let’s go inside and get some food.” I nod and smile back up at him as we turn to follow Sting and Lux back to our new guildhall. I’m pretty sure this won’t be the last adventure I have with my Fairy Tail friends!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading The Shadow Prodigy. I hope you enjoyed this, it was a lot of fun for me to write. I have a few ideas for other stories Mattia, Lux and the other Sabertooth wizards can star in, so if people seem interested in this story and I actually get around to writing the others then I may turn this into a two or three story series. Never-the-less, thank you again for reading and any tips or suggestions in the comments are more than welcome! :)


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